Promises Unkept
by Incendo
Summary: Living with regret, giving up promises by force, a young she-wolf lives out her battered life without purpose; without guidance. One thing that stops her from truly losing hope is her unkept promises to a dying man. And when she encounters more of her kind, she finds the ambition to look for a better place. And perhaps... the family she lost. Tsume X OC - slight Kiba X OC
1. Stands out of the Crowd

Walking amongst the crowded marketplace, two males emerge that stood out the most. The humans were too easily fooled by their appearance. Many didn't think much of them, while many stayed their distance from them, thinking that they were some common cutpurses. However, this didn't matter much to them, the brown haired male just walked about with a goofy smile on his face, a smile that would turn the meanest to second thinking, while the dark haired male looked stern and walked with a limp.

"Looks like the bleeding stopped." the brown haired boy said with a sign of relief. The other one replied with a hush, taciturn tone.

"Yeah, guess so." Walking past among stray animals or domesticated ones alike, they cowered in fear, for their true form they could see: Wolves.

Many believed that wolves have been either hunted or died from hunger; that they no longer existed. But wolves are more clever than many thought. Taking the form of humans, they wander about aimlessly, searching for a purpose. That is exactly who these two were.

Walking towards a large stand, the brown haired boy stopped abruptly, the other stopped behind him.

"Hey, what did you stop for?" the dark haired boy asked. The brown haired boy looked like he was drooling when the dark haired boy walked ahead of him and gave him his full attention.

The brown haired one leans over to the other one and says in a whisper.

"Hey Kiba, check out that babe over there." Kiba looks over at what the starstruck boy was drooling over.

Over by the stand, a beautiful girl was handing flowers to wandering bystanders, she smiled gently at those who took the flowers she would give. Handing a fragile looking white flower to a women with a child holding her other hand, she bowed to the women, allowing her long blonde hair to fall from her shoulder perfectly.

"Thank you, young miss. How much do I own you?" The girl lifts herself up and smiles a gentle smile.

"Oh no, no charge. Please, just take care of it." The woman nods her head and smiles as she walks with her child. "But mommy, I want one too." The little girl pouted. "Of course, one moment." The girl said as she reaches over in the basket of flowers on the stand and pulls out an identical flower. Kneeling down, she places the flower into the little girl's hair. "There you are." The little girl coos over the plant and thanks the young woman. "Yay, thank you, miss." The girl smiles and pats her on the head as the pair walk off in the opposite direction.

The girl waves to them as they leave, turning back to the stand filled with flowers behind her. Kiba turns back to the brown haired boy and lifts his eyebrow in suspicion. "What about her?" he said annoyed like.

"You know what she is... don't you?" As Kiba turned his attention back to the flower girl, She now, in their eyes, appeared in her true form. A wolf of pure blonde fur, the colors of french vanilla coated her fur around her face and at her paws. A golden locket hung around her neck. In a quick instant, she reverts to her human form.

"A wolf... she's seems like a strange one. And her scent is different too." The brown haired boy said curiously.

As a human, she wore a blue long sleeved un-button blazer, and a grey skirt that went to her thighs. Around her neck was a golden locket, it looked like it went though hell and back, it was covered in tiny scratches and the gold had nearly faded away. Her skin was a creamy pale, her face was delicate and seemingly shined; despite the lack of sun on this cloudy day. The most distinguishing thing of her appearance was her eyes: left one a deep blue color, and right one was a jade green.

The brown haired wolf tried to walk closer but Kiba grabs him by the shoulder, keeping a firm grip on. "You better not Hige. That girl might be trouble.' For some reason, this girl rubbed Kiba the wrong way. She seemed innocent enough, but there was something about her scent that made his hair stand.

"Aw, come on.' Hige replies all care-free, "It wouldn't hurt to take her to Paradise as well, would it?" Kiba sighs and lets go of the love stricken wolf. "Fine, go talk to her then." Hige took the opportunity to speed walk over to the she-wolf, excited to take her to "Paradise"... if she agrees. Paradise was a place told in old children stories. When the world comes to an end, there will be a haven where only wolves can enter. The two males didn't know this, but the flower wolf girl has heard this story many times before. Almost losing hope in such things.

As Hige was about to approach her, he was pushed to the side by an unknown assailant. "Move it, boy!" Hige gained his stance and looked at his assailant. It was some thug looking human man, wearing an all leather outfit. His hair was black and had a white streak in the middle and a scar on his right cheek. With an evil grin on his face, the thug says with a tough attitude.

"That's my girl, pal. You keep away from her!" Before Hige could say anything, the thug turns away and walks in the direction of the flower girl. "Hey, come back here!" Hige shouted, but the thug ignored him. "You bastard." Hige said under his breath.

The thug sneaks up behind the girl and runs his hand on her left thigh, causing her to jump. She spins around and sees the thug, a look of fear crept on her face. "Y-yes... can I help you?" she stutters. The thug leans closer to her, trapping her in between the stand and him. He brings out his arm and places it on the stand as he towers over her.

"I've been watching you... and I want you." The thug's face was now inches from hers. His breath reeked of cigarettes, causing the she-wolf to hold her breath, disgust by his foul odor. He took the arm that was out and wraps it around the girl, pulling her closer to him. The girl tried to push him away but he was stronger. "Stop it... let go of me!" The thug just laughs, "I like your spirit. Too bad I'm gonna have to break it."

"Please! Let go!" she yells as she continued to try to push away from him. Despite the situation, no one in the marketplace paid any attention, except the wolves. A look of anger crept on the wolves faces as they watch one of their own be harassed. Kiba and Hige, in a fit of rage, run in to motion towards the two. "Get away from her!" Kiba yells.

On cue, anger plastered the girl's face as she placed her hands on both of the thugs shoulder, I said... let go!" she screams as she knees him in the crotch. The two wolves stop in place as the thug kills over and backs away from the wolf girl. "Gah! You bitch!" He yells in between groans. He would've said more, but the girl grabs the thug by the hair and knees him in the face, causing him to walk closer backwards to the wall behind them. As he was holding his face in pain, the wolf girl presses her arm against his throat and backs him into the wall as grabs his crotch, tightening her grip around his... "privates".

"Goddamn it! Let go, you bitch!" the thug yells, keeping himself from squealing like a girl, but it only caused her to tighten her grip on his privates even more.

"I'm going to say this one more time: If you ever come near me again, you disgusting human... I'll tear these off and feed them to the crows! Got that!?" The thug nods his head as tears were falling from his eyes. The girl lets go of the thug; the thug falls on the ground, holding his crotch as he gets back up. "You dirty bitch! I'll get you next time!" The girl, walking away from him, dismissively waves her hand in the air and says, "Like I haven't heard that before." in a sarcastic tone.

The thug walks off in a different direction, cursing under his breath as he ran away.

Hige had a shocked expression on his face. Never had he met a she-wolf with guts like that. But Kiba looked aloofed still as he stared at the she-wolf. In a second, Hige walks over to her as she was gathering the flowers into the basket she had.

"Hey, you ok?" The girl looks back, still with an angered look on her face. "What do you want!? Go find some other girl to mess with! I'm busy!" Hige jumped at her heighten voice but gained bravado and tried to talk to her again.

"I don't want to mess with you, I just want to talk." The girl opens her mouth tell him off again, but she suddenly recognized the scent of the boy in front of her. "Wait... you're..." Hige nods his head, "Yep, a wolf like you." The girl paused for a second, she suddenly got rid of her angered expression and apologetically bows to Hige.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Please forgive me. If I knew who you were, I wouldn't have..." Hige blushes at the she-wolfs cuteness and says,

"Hey, no need to apologize." Kiba comes up from behind Hige and asked in a polite tone, "Are you hurt?" The she-wolf looks over at Kiba and recognizes his scent too and blushes. His human form had a rather handsome appearance. The thug was handsome too, but with rotten insides, and the fact that they were two different species...

"I'm alright. Don't worry, this wasn't the first time that disgusting human tried to make advances at me." Hige seemed disgusted by this when he suddenly spoke. "You mean that freak has done this before?"

She nods her head.

"Mmm-hmm, for almost three months I think." The she-wolf jumped to sudden realization. "Oh, how rude of me, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Yuna." Hige smiled a goofy smile as he said, "Yuna, thats a very pretty name. I'm Hige, and this guy over here is Kiba."

Yuna bows to the two, "Nice to meet both of you." Yuna looks at both of them as she tilts her head. "I must say, it's nice to see my own kind for a change." Hige then says, "Same here, especially a babe such as yourself." Yuna was startled with Hige's statement and felt blood rushing to her face. Flustered, she rubs her arm as she speaks.

"Quite the charmer, huh?" Hige rubs the back of his head as he says, "That's me..." as he chuckles.

Curiosity scratched at Yuna, she was wondering what her own kind was doing in a hellhole like this place.

"So, where are you two going? I highly doubt you're staying here." Hige stalled for a moment, but Kiba jumps in with his response.

"Paradise... we're going to Paradise." Yuna was dumbfounded by Kiba's answer. "I'm sorry but... did you say Paradise?" Kiba simply nods his head.

"And we're wondering if you wanted to come with us." Hige saids with a glint in his eye. Yuna paused for a moment, suspicious of these two journey. She herself have always wanted to make that journey, ever since she was a pup. But she wouldn't know where to start. Where to go? What to do? Or even, how to survive?

With a smile on her face, Yuna shakes her head.

"I'd love to, but I can't. Thanks for asking." Hige's disappointment settled in as he spoke.

"Really? You sure?"

"Mmm-hmm, but I'm not lying when I say I'd love to. It's a suicide mission, and I'm pretty sure you know that too." Kiba locks eyes with Yuna, "We're willing to take that risk." Temptation ate away at Yuna, she has always wanted to leave this place. To leave all the terrible memories behind.

"Well... how long are you planning to stay?" Yuna asked.

"Not sure, but probably soon. Why?" Hige asked. Yuna started to fiddle with her thumbs, not wanting to say what she was about to say.

"I'd like to come, but I need sometime to think. This is... alot to take in."

"Take your time." Kiba says, "But make sure your choice is something you're not going to regret." Yuna nods to the aloof wolf.

The two wolves continue to walk away ahead of the she-wolf, Yuna waves to the two as they walk off. Only Hige looks back and waves. Once the two were out of sight, Yuna turns her attention to the basket of flowers, gathering the last of them and gently setting them apart of each other.

Picking up a white flower, Yuna looks at the delicate thing in her hand and feels her heart ache. _"Make sure your choice is something you're not going to regret"_. The words Kiba spoke continuously rang through Yuna's mind. _"A choice I'm not going to regret..."_ Yuna says to herself in her thought. _"What do you think, Grandfather?" s_he asks as she looks up at the clouded sky.

* * *

_Sitting in front of a roaring fireplace, an elderly man pats the head of a small wolf that was resting in his lap, warming themselves. Running his hand along the fur of the blonde wolf, he looks down at the half-asleep wolf and smiles._

_"Are you feeling any better, Yuna?" The pup lifts her head and looks at the old man's face, she lightly barks to assure her caretaker. The old man chuckles softly and continues to pet the pup._

_"Good, I keep telling you to not push yourself, especially a pup in your condition." Through he sounded concern, he held a firm tone in his voice. The pup stands back up and jumps off the man's lap; sitting right next to him._

_"You're one to talk, Grandpa." The voice of a little girl sudden appeared. Looking over, he looks at the pup, who now took the appearance of a little girl. The little girl wore a white dress and had pale blonde hair that went to her lower back. Combine that with her pale skin and delicate face mix into a beautiful, doll-like feature._

_With a smile on her face, the young girl hugs the old man's arm and looks up at him._

_"You're the one who pushes yourself to an impossible point, Grandpa." The old man chuckled again and smooths the hair of the young girl. "Well... I have to, if we want to stay here." Hugging his arm evermore tighter, she presses her head against his arm._

_"I know... but still, Grandpa, you're not a young person anymore, you shouldn't spend your golden years like this." Sensing the worry in the girl's voice, the elderly man lowers his head, till the two touched foreheads._

_"I know, young pup... I know." The man kisses her forehead, Yuna giggles from being tickled by the elderly man's beard. "But I'm not going to live forever, and I don't want you to live alone. You do want to see your father again?"_

_Yuna nods her head._

_"Yeah, I really want to. But I want you to come too." The elderly man smooths the girls hair._

_"I'm sorry, young pup. I am but an old soldier who no longer can wield a weapon, but you still have an entire life ahead of you, Yuna, you must survive. Do you understand?" Reluctantly, the young girl nods her head. Yuna lets go of the older man's arm and sits up straight, staring at the flames as she plays with the locket around her neck._

_Adopted by the ex-soldier, the first three years together haven't been the easiest. But with each passing day, she felt closer and closer to him. He was a kindly man, gentle and firm. His years as a solider have given him a fearsome appearance but also the strength, for someone his age. After the older man saved Yuna from her troubled past, they moved into the human city. He has since worked to support both of themselves, but also to give Yuna a chance to see her family again._

_Watching the flames, Yuna allowed herself to be lost in thought. Remembering the kicks, punches, and the burning from cigarettes made Yuna sick to her stomach. Clutching her hands in her lap, she bits down on her lip to hold back tears. The laughter of her tormenters, and the sickening things they have said are still fresh in her mind. She could feel her blood boil._

_The elderly man, most likely sensing her sadness, picks the little girl up. Yuna gasps as he cradles her in his arms._

_"Shhh, it's alright, little one. They won't hurt you anymore." The older man said softly. Yuna finally allowed herself to let the tears she has been holding back to fall. Quietly whimpering, she wraps her arms behind his neck and buries her face into his chest._

_Yuna then says in between sobs, "You... you won't let anything bad happen to me anymore... will you, Grandpa?" The older man was silent for a moment, but he answers. "Of course, young pup. As long as I live, no one will ever hurt you."_

_Yuna, now in her wolf form, rests upon the old man's lap. Her whimpering goes silent, as she slips into dreams. Feeling the older man pet her head, she dreams of her memories, the happy ones. A time when she was with her family, a time with no worry..._

* * *

Holding the flower close to her heart, silent tears fall from her eyes. Yuna looks down and inhales the sweet fragrance of Grandfather's favorite flower, soothing her sadness.

_"How is heaven, Grandfather? It's hard to believe it's been 3 years since you past away. I hope you are happy there."_

Yuna shakes her head to lose the thought. Gathering the last of the flowers, she grabs the basket and walks in the direction of her home, the same direction of the two wolves.

_"Paradise, huh... Grandfather, should I really believe in such a tale? Should I go with those two and search with them? Staying will not get me anywhere, but I can't leave... no, it's not that I can't leave. I'm afraid to leave."_

Wiping away the last of the tears, Yuna perks herself up and smiles. Shaking off this feeling of sadness.

_"I can't be discouraged. Not with Grandfather watching me."_ She thinks to herself as smiles at wandering bystanders on the street.


	2. Strays

Jumping over tipped over trash cans and avoiding the alleyways at all cost, Yuna decides to walk a further distance from her home. It was written all over her face, she was bothered by the conversation she had with the two wolves. It was just a fairy tale- Paradise-, it was something that was hard to believe. Looking at the spots where she used to play with her grandfather just made her more sick to the stomach from being homesick. After his death, she gave up the urge to leave and to find a better place than this. Her grandfather's dying words told her different, but she wouldn't know where to start, she barely gets by as it is.

Walking on a stone bridge, Yuna snaps back into reality as she puts her one foot in front (as she is not paying attention) and suddenly hears loud yelp as she feels something under her foot. Startled, Yuna is taken aback at first, almost dropping the basket of flowers as she sees a rushing figure high tail it behind some empty crates. She shakes her head to clear her thought and looks around to see the cause of loud yelp. Looking up ahead, a tail of a dog stuck out from behind a number of crates, staying perfectly still. Sniffing the air, a familar scent catches her attention as she walks forward slowly to the abandoned crates. Near the crates, Yuna stands on her toes to identify the animal, doing so revealed a beautiful cinnamon colored wolf cowering in the corner of the crates. From the size of him, he was still just a pup.

"Um, hello there..." Yuna says softly.

The wolf turns his head and looks at the twin colored eyed girl with a scared look. Maybe he was paralyzed by fear, but he didn't even try to run. Yuna walks to the wolf and kneels down to his height, setting the basket of flowers down next to her. The wolf gingerly turns himself and sits in front of the girl.

"Did I step on you, little one?" She kindly asks. The wolf, understanding her gesture, barks once and quietly. Yuna wasn't surprised by his quick understanding. "Oh, please forgive me. I wasn't paying attention."

The wolf walks a few steps, close to her face and sniffs her a few. The wolf, confused by her scent as she didn't smell any different then a human, silently whimpers as he walks back abit scared. "Please, don't be scared, young pup." she says kindly as she smiles, "I may not look or smell like it... but I'm like you too."

In an instant, Yuna reveals her true form as a blonde furred wolf. Sitting up straight, wagging her tail slowly. The young wolf was startled by her transformation. Yuna, now back as a human, slowly reaches over and smooths the top of the wolf's head. The wolf leans his head into her hand as she is petting him, obviously enjoying it. Giggling, Yuna then says, "Strange day... you're the third wolf I've met today."

Yuna takes hold of the basket and stands back up, smiling down at the young pup. "Come with me, I'd like to talk to you." Walking back to the bridge, the wolf hesitates for a moment before he stands back up and follows right behind her. Sitting on the ledge of the bridge, Yuna cradles the basket in her arms on her lap and murmured a secret excitement to see another of her kind.

"What are you doing in a place like this? It's dangerous to be wondering around by yourself." Soon, a unexpected persona took place of the wolf.

"Umm, well... I have nowhere else to go." he says sadly. The wolf was now in the form of a young boy. Hair color the same as the color of his fur, his bangs hung over his forehead. The now human wolf sits down next to the she-wolf, swinging his one leg on the edge and resting his head on his knee.

"You don't?" Yuna says with concern, "Surely you must."

"No, I don't. Granny... she... she adopted me when I was still young. She was gentle and kind, and she took very good care of me..." Raising his right arm, he looks at the metal bracelets with sorrowful eyes. "She even gave me the bracelet here."

"What happened to her?" she asks. The young boy looks down at the ground sadly, telling Yuna the obvious. Sensing his answer and depressing, she sets the basket aside and scotchs close to the boy, causing him to blush. Yuna wraps her left arm around him and places her other hand on his right arm.

"It's all right." She says tenderly."You don't need to answer the question. I'm just sorry for your loss." The boy smiles slight and giggles.

"Thank you. You're a really nice lady..." Hesitating for a second, he looks at Yuna with a confused look. "Um, what's your name?"

"Oh! How rude of me..." She exclaims. Yuna lets go and introduces herself. "I'm Yuna, I've lived here for awhile myself. What's yours?" The boy blushes and smiles as he scratches his cheek with his index finger. "I'm Toboe, nice to meet c'ha." Toboe says happily.

"Toboe? That's a cute name for a cutie like you." Yuna says, making Toboe blush.

"Yuna's a pretty name too." Toboe saids with a giggle, enacting Yuna too as well. Looking over at the basket of flowers, Toboe's curiosity scratches at him. Now in this day and age, flowers are rarely seen. They've either died off or have been moved away.

"What's that basket of flowers for?" Toboe asks. Taking the basket and placing it back on her lap, Yuna smiles and says, "Oh, this? I sell these flowers here; it's my job."

"Really? I've never seen flowers this beautiful before, and none that smell that nice."

"Mmm-hmm, I live alone so that's about all I can do."

"Huh? You're alone too, Yuna?"

Yuna looks down sadly at the scaling height below the two, never had she talked about her grandfather to anyone before. But, it seemed to help Yuna feel less stress when she said it aloud. Maybe talking about it to another person might help.

"I was raised by an older man. He saved me when I was younger and has raised me ever since then. He passed away three years ago from a illness, so I've been working to support myself ever since."

Toboe looks at Yuna sadly, empathizing with her.

"Oh, I'm really sorry for asking." Toboe says very regretfully. "Don't worry about it, Toboe. It was a long time ago."

Placing her hand on Toboe's shoulder, Yuna kindly looks at him. "You know what my grandfather said to me before he died?"

"No, what?"

"He said: "Death is not a time of sadness, more of a journey we all must take one day in our lives. Allowing our spirits to fly free, we can still live on in the hearts of those we will miss. But know that one day, they'll make the same journey as you, and you'll be reunited again." "

"He really said that?" Toboe says with slight amazement

"Yeah, and what I mean is, is that even though the women who took care of you is no longer here, just know that she still lives on in you."

"Do... do you really believe that?" Toboe ask. Yuna nods her head. "... Thank you, Yuna. I feel happy to hear you say that." Yuna smiles brightly, happy that her grandfather's dying words have helped another.

"Do you still think your grandpa is still around, Yuna?" Toboe asks.

"Well, at time I have doubts. The last three years have been hard, and sometimes wish I had listen to more of his teachings. But, yes. I do still believe he watches over me and prays for me. I hope he is."

Toboe smiles at Yuna and says, "Me too... I mean, I hope so too." Yuna gently smiles back at him.

"Thank you, Toboe. That's very sweet of you to say." Earning Toboe a sheepish giggle. Yuna stands back up, grabbing hold of the flowers in hand. With the two sharing glances, Yuna reaches her hand to Toboe.

"If you have nowhere else to go, Toboe... you're welcomed to come with me." Toboe's eyes widened abit, looking at Yuna's gentle smile, as he slowly takes her hand and stands back up. "You mean... you want me to stay with you?"

"Of course, we wolves have to stick together, you know. Beside, I'd like the extra company. Do you mind?" Toboe happily shakes his head and says, "Oh no, not at all. Thanks alot Yuna." Looking behind Toboe, Yuna noticed a man coming out of the alleyway and walking towards them; with a grin on his face, holding a knife at his side. As he continued to approach closer, Yuna's inner instincts told her to take evasive action. Taking hold of Toboe's hand, she backs away. "Come on, Toboe. We have to go." She says with a scared tone. "Why Yuna? What's wrong?"

Toboe looks behind Yuna and is stricken with a terrified face. He points behind and shouts, "Yuna, watch out! Behind yo..." His sentence is cut off as a man's hand covers his mouth. Yuna felt someone wrap their arm around her, blocking off the use of her arms, causing her to drop the basket of flowers on the ground, landing perfectly on the ground without them falling over. The coldness of steel is pressed against the skin of her neck as she hears the voice of a common familiar.

"I finally have you, bitch!"


	3. Limits are Broken

The smell of cigarettes and alcohol seeped out of the thug's mouth as he talks closer to Yuna's face. The smell of his breath brought back horrible memories. She tries to push away from him, but this only angers him, drawing his knife closer to her neck.

"Think you're so tough, huh? Well think again, hussy." The thug hisses.

The man holding Toboe pulls him back further as he draws his knife to Toboe's neck. "Yea, boss. Show this bitch who's the man." His minion says. With his hand still covering Toboe's mouth and knife to his throat, he gleefully watches as his leader begins to grope Yuna.

"S-Stop! Let go of me!" Yuna yells, trying to rip off his wandering hands.

The thug only laughs. "That's right. Keep yelling, it only eggs me on." The thug then leads Yuna off of the bridge, towards the side of a building. The thug slams Yuna against the wall and pins her against it, slowly carssing his knife against her cheek. Out of nowhere, more than five men came from the otherside of the bridge, wearing thugish clothes and waving their weapons in the air with glee. One of them cups his hand around his mouth and yells, "Yo, boss! That the bitch you've been talking about."

Without turning his attention away, the thug yells back, "Yea, this is her."

His cohorts run over to their own. Their evil grins and eyes scanning Yuna from head to toe soon became more clearer up close. Yuna eyes begin to swell up in tears, the memories of her abusers were now tormenting her mind, the thug was obviously taking joy in this. One of them looks at the thug holding Toboe and says, "Who the hell is this? You didn't say the bitch had a kid."

Still with his attention on Yuna, the thug says, "Don't know, don't care. Kill him."

The thug brings his blade up against the skin of Toboe's neck. As Toboe tries to struggle away from the thug that held him, Yuna tries to push off the thug on her. "NO! DON'T!" she yells, "He's just a kid! Do whatever you want to me, but please, keep him out of this!"

The thug laughs, "Oh-ho, the little vixen finally breaks!" He looks away from Yuna and says to his cohorts, "Let the brat go." On cue, the thug lets go of Toboe, grabbing him by the collar and throwing him to the streets. Toboe exclaims in pain as his palms graze the street.

"Beat it, you little brat!" the thug yells.

Anger plastered Toboe's face as he struggles to get up.

"No, let go of her." he says calmly as possible, trying to still the tremor in his voice. The entire group laughs out loud at Toboe's feigned courage, they could see his legs shaking like warm butter. "I mean it. If you don't let go, I'll... I'll."

Before any of them could insult him, Yuna yells to Toboe, "It's alright, Toboe. I can handle this. Just go somewhere close, I'll see you soon." she says with a smile, even with tears falling from her eyes.

"No, I'm not going to leave you here like..."

"Toboe, do as I say. Please." Yuna asks. Yuna winks at him, meaning she had something hidden in her sleeves. She didn't know if Toboe understood it, but either way, he reluctantly ran away from them, crossing the bridge and picking the basket of flowers up as he runs.

Once Toboe was out of sight, the thug and his gang members turn their attention back to Yuna.

"Now... where were we?" The thug says as he traces his knife from her face, all the way do to her thigh. The coldness of the blade hitting her bare skin causes her to shiver.

"Damn, boss!" One of the thugs exclaims, "You's was right, she really is a smoking hot babe."

"Yea... hope the boss is done with her quick." One thug said to the other, causing the one who listen to laugh.

"Now, now boys." The thug teases, "You'll have to be patient. Cause I'm going to spend some quality time with this one." he says as he plays with one of Yuna's buttons on her shirt with his knife. Every second that past, Yuna felt her muscles tighten up. She wanted to vomit from the smell of all of them, they reeked of cigarettes, alcohol, and sweat. Yuna swallows her pride and cooks up fresh tactics.

Yuna, gently taking hold of the tip of the knife, staring up at the thug with a seductive gaze and smile. Yuna then says with a submissive tone, "But why must we have them...?" Allowing her to brush the knife away, Yuna slowly runs her hands up his built chest, all the way to his cheeks.

"...All I want... is you." she says seductively. The thug became instantly entranced by her seductive change of pace, dropping the knife on the ground.

"...I know how guys like you like women who play hard to get. I may have... taken it too far." Scotching closer to the front of him, Yuna runs her leg against the side of his. "I think about that deadly handsome face of yours, and those... manly arms and solid chest of yours all night..." Slowly unbuttoning the top three buttons of her shirt, she bushes them back, allowing her cleavage to show. "It makes me all hot and bothered, and now I can't take it anymore." she says in a begging tone. Sweat now began to form on the brow of the thug. He couldn't control his breath, or stop the butterfly feeling in his stomach.

Yuna gently takes hold of his collar and pulls him with her as she leans up against the wall. The thug holds himself up with the palm of both of his hands on the wall, close to Yuna's head. With cheeks redder than ever, Yuna leans close to his ear and whispers, "Don't worry of being rough... I love rough."

A smirk grows on the thugs face, "Now that's more like it." he says, Yuna giggles softly.

Yuna runs her hand down from his collar, down to the button of his pants. Yuna, teasingly, unbuttons it and slowly unzips his pants. The thug nibbles on Yuna's neck, his breathing down her neck sends shivers down her spine. As the thug goes to unbutton the rest of her shirt, bringing her lips close to his ear, Yuna whispers "...Fooled you."

Pushing him away, she slashes at the thug's neck with her nails, tearing flesh and sending a rain of blood to the ground. The thug flys backwards, hitting the ground. The thug wraps his hands around his throat, grunting and lightly moan barely as he rolls around on the ground.

"BOSS!" One of the thugs yell.

The rest watches as their leader slowly bleed to death, with Yuna brushing her coat. "I should have done that forever ago..." she mutters. The thug's cohorts looked at Yuna in shock. Yuna was looking back at them with a hateful look.

Another pulls out a butterfly knife and charges at Yuna, "You bitch! You'll die for that." The five others follow his league. Yuna chuckles tauntingly as she charges at them, with a blood chilling cry.

The she-wolf leaps out of the way of his attack. With him exposed, she leaps at his neck, in her wolf form, and bites down onto his jugular deep, causing blood to spray out as she lands him to the ground. Yuna bits down harder, feeling the crack of his neck, blood spraying from the wound. Yuna then eyes the other thugs, who were now shaking in their shoes, one had urinated himself. Yuna growls angrily at the thugs with blood dripping from her mouth, loudly barking at them, making them flinch at each bark.

"Dude, this bitch is a monster! Screw this!" The thugs yell as they high tailed it out of there. Yuna, drunk on anger, chases after them. Catching up to one of them, she jumps onto his back, causing him to trip and fall on his face. Yuna then swiftly bites into the thugs jugular, deep and hard. Ignoring the thugs plea for his life, the thug's screaming was soon silenced as Yuna bites down deeper and rips out his throat. Raining blood soaked her blonde fur.

In the distant, the other screams could be heard. Yuna chuckles silently in her mind as she walks off of the dead thug. Now in her human form, Yuna, with blood covering parts of her face and on her coat, she inhales in deeply and yells, "THAT'S RIGHT, YOU GODDAMN PIGS! RUN LIKE THE COWARDS YOU ARE! NOW NEVER COME BACK IN THIS TOWN AGAIN!"

Standing back up straight, Yuna gains back her senses. Eyes of hate soon became empathy as she slowly turns around and saw the dead thugs behind her

The thug she killed's neck had been torn out, his face and the upper part of his back was covered with blood. He had a terrified expression on his face. Yuna gasps, covering her hand over her mouth as she backs into the wall of the building behind her. Small squicking escaped her mouth as tears formed in her eyes. Falling to her knees, Yuna breaks down into tears. "I... I did this? N-No. I couldn't... I couldn't have. I'm not a killer. I'm not a..." Yuna interrupts her sentence tasting the blood that was in her mouth. Removing her hand from her mouth, she looks at her hand in shock. Her hand was covered in blood as well, with bits of flesh clinging under her fingernails.

Eyes wide, Yuna screams in terror. Her scream echoed off in the distant. No doubt someone from the city heard the screams. Crying and hyperventilating, Yuna was siting in a fetal position, covering her head with her bloodstained hands. Yuna begged for someone to come help her, but at the same time, she didn't want someone to see what she has done.

She didn't know how long she sat there, it felt like hours. Sitting there, looking over the deed that she has done, Yuna becomes sick to the stomach.

Like a wish come true, Yuna heard footsteps approaching fast. Her shaking legs prevented her from getting up, even as she tries to push herself, she soon lost the will. Giving up, Yuna brings her legs to her chest and digs her face into it. No longer caring what might happen, as she heard someone approach. Yuna still refused to look as she heard the steps get closer to her. She caught the scent though, it was the scent of strong alcohol. The steps stop in front of her, her muscles tighten up, waiting for judgement to hit, but the hits or yelling never came. Instead, she heard the voice of a old man.

"Hey, girl! You all right! What happened here!?" Slowly looking up, Yuna saw an old man, wearing a unbutton trench coat and a dark hat. Underneath it, he wore a blue uniform, with gold medals on it, and a rifle he had strapped to his side. Next to him, he had a beautiful black furred dog, looking at Yuna with a curious look. The old man reached his hand to Yuna, but Yuna just stares at it, still with tears streaming down her face.

"Come on, girl. Take my hand." The man smelled like someone set a tavern on fire, no doubt that her came from a bar. Nevertheless, Yuna takes his hand and allows him to pull her up.

"What happened to you?" he asks. Looking among the dead bodies behind, seeing the blood that covered her, it lead to one logical conclusion. "What happened here? Answer me!"

Yuna, still in shock, remained quiet. Only looking away, avoiding eye contact with him at all cost. "Damn it, girl! I don't have all day! Tell me what happened?" he yells in frustration. Yuna flinches to his loud voice, whimpering as she tried to walk away from him. The old man grabs her by the arm tightly, tightening his grip as Yuna tried to pry it off.

"You're not going anywhere till you tell me what happened." Something with in Yuna snaps. Taking a deep breath, Yuna's face twists in anger. "I killed them!" she yells at the top of her lungs. The old man's eye widened to her answer. Yuna continues to try to pull away from him, but he wouldn't let go. Memories of her early childhood began to overshadow her logic thought, reliving the abuse and torture.

"Let go of me! Don't hurt me! Please, I'm sorry! Don't hurt me anymore! I'm sorry!" She yells in between sobbing. Yuna collapses to her knees, her grief felt like heavy weights on her shoulders. She began to breath hysterically as she breaks down into tears. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry." she whimpers over and over. The old man, feeling pity for her, kneels down to her and says, "Hey, kid. It's all right, I'm not going to hurt ch'a."

Letting go of her arm, he wraps his hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her breathing.

Yuna looks up at the old man. For a split second, his face was the shear image of his savior. The tender eyes, the loving smile, his gruff appearance, she saw it all. In her blind vision, Yuna embraces the old man and hugs him tightly, burying her face in his chest.

"Please, don't leave... I don't want to be alone again, Grandfather... Please don't leave."

The old man, startled by her title for him, decides to play along and hugs the crying girl, gently rubbing her back.

"Hey now, it's all right. Stop crying." he says tenderly with his horsed voice.

His dog walks up to Yuna and licks her exposed cheeks. Yuna turns and looks at his dog, reaching over and gently pets the dog behind the ear. His dog was leaning its head into her hand, obviously enjoying the attention. Yuna laughed softly at the cuteness of the dog. Yuna finally calmed down, only hiccuping and tears stains remained. Still holding on to her, the old man helps her on her feet. Yuna looks directly into his eyes, feeling embarrassed that she mistaken him for her grandfather and acted the way that she did, her cheeks were bright red as she pulls away from him and apologetically bows.

"I'm... I'm really sorry, sir. I didn't mean..." Her sentence is cut off by the old man.

"Enough of that..." he says. Yuna looks back at him as he continues, "Look, I don't know what happened here, and I don't believe a girl like you did this... but you're going to tell me everything. Understand?" he saids in a serious tone. Yuna was startled at first, but she simply nods her head and says, "A-Alright."

The old man nods his head.

"Here is not the best place though..." The old man lightly grabs Yuna's arm and leads her. "...Hey, do you drink?" he asks.

"Do I drink...? Um, no, not often."

"Hmm, well then, today you do."

The old man lets go of Yuna's arm, trusting that she would walk with him. Walking along with him, she begins to fiddle with her fingers as she ask, "So, what's your name?" The old man looks at her and says, "...Quent. Quent Yaiden. And you?"

"Oh, I'm... I'm Yuna."

"Hmm, Yuna? That name means "Snow Flower". A very pretty name." Yuna blushes to the compliment. She couldn't help but notice his attention was now directed at her chest. "One thing though..." he says.

"What?"

"You... might want to button up your shirt." Yuna looks down, remembering her exposing cleavage. She sheepishly buttons up her shirt. Her face had become bright red with embarrassment. "And, we might want to clean up the blood on you too."

_"Why is he so calm? I just hope he's not a perverted human." _Yuna says in her thoughts. Something in her told her to run, but she ignored the gut feel and decides to trust him.


	4. Time at the Tavern

Outside of the bar, Quent ties his dog onto a pole near the doors. "Your dog is really beautiful. What's her name?" After tying her leash to the pole, Quent looks back and says, "Her name's Blue. My son was the one who named her." Yuna was surprised to hear he had a son. From the way he looked; and the way he smelled, it seemed very strange that he once had a family. Now in this day and age, you always hear of fathers or mothers leaving their families behind for infinite reasons. Some because of stress, others leave to find fortune, or help. Some, almost all, never have a happy ending.

Quent takes Yuna by her arm and leads her into the tavern bathroom, the barkeeper didn't pay no mind as Quent walked in with a blood covered girl. Quent opens the bathroom door, but Yuna stops abruptly as she looks at the "Men" sign above the door. "Wait, that's the men's bathroom. I'm not going in there."

"We gotta clean the blood off you, and I'm sure as hell not using the women's restroom. Now, come on." he growls as he pulls Yuna into the bathroom.

As expected to see in a tavern men's bathroom, it was beyond filthy. The floors were dirty and chipped, the light in the room flickered continuously as Quent turns the valve and lets the water run till it's warm.

"Give me your jacket." he asks.

Yuna sheepishly removes her jacket and hands it to Quent. Quent runs warm over the bloodstains that seemingly blended with the blue fabric of her blazer. He then grabs the bar of soap that layed on the sink and rubs vigorously into the stains of the coat. "Goddamn, these stains are a pain in the ass." he hisses as he rubs harder into the fabric. Yuna only prayed he didn't tear through the fabric of her jacket. Within a few minutes, the stains didn't seem to exist. With that, Yuna takes the jacket back and slips it back on. "Thanks so muc..." Her sentence is cut off as Quent takes a paper towel soaked with warm water and wipes the bloodstains on her face.

"Jesus, if you really did kill these assholes, then I commend you." he says with a sarcastic tone. Yuna only mentally rolls her eyes. Once the blood on her face was gone, Quent turns off the valve to the sink and throws away the paper towel. "There, now I can see that pretty face of yours." he flirts, enacting Yuna's face to turn bright red. "Alright, now lets drink." he says as he takes hold of her arm and leads her out of the bathroom. "W-Wait, I'm sorry but I can't..." Yuna stammers.

"Whatever plans you made, might as well cancel them." he says.

Quent sets her on the bar stool and then sits next to her, taking off his hat and gun as he lets out a soft sigh. "Yo, you're back." The barkeeper says to Quent. _"Wait, he was here before he met me?"_ Yuna says in her thoughts. The man looked old enough to be her grandfather, no way he couldn't be that much of a drunkard... Could he?

Either way, Quent says to the barkeep, "Yeah, get me strongest drink for me and the girl here."

The overweight barkeep scans Yuna from what he could see below, to her delicate face. "Hey, isn't this chick alittle too young for you to pick up?" Yuna, red as a tomato, waves her hands sheepishly as she exclaims, "N-N-No, it isn't what you think, sir..." The barkeep waves his hand dismissively and says, "Nah, doesn't matter to me. As long as you got the money and the urge to drink." Yuna clamps up and rests her hands in her lap as she watches the barkeep pour liquor into the glasses.

Handing the two shot glasses filled with whiskey to the two at the table, Quent quickly gulped the drink down while Yuna stared at the foul smelling liquid in her glass. She didn't need to direct her nose over the glass to dislike the substance; thanks to her sensitive nose. "You going to drink or what?" Quent asks, who had red cheeks already from that one glass. "Umm, no, I think I'll pass."

However, Quent continues to pester her till Yuna finally gave up. Taking a deep breath, Yuna gulps down the drink, wanting to gag from the taste and the burning sensation that ran down her throat. "There, now was that so bad?" Quent jokes. Yuna didn't answer, only could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand and her stomach gargle. She turns her head to him and shakes her head. "Good. Hey, another round."

"Coming up."

_"Goddamn it, this human is going to kill me."_

Filling up their shot glasses with more whiskey, Quent again didn't hesitate to down it. "So, what's a pretty girl like you doing in a town like this?" Quent asks. "Oh, I've lived here since I was a little girl. It was just me and my grandfather till three years ago. Now I've been working to support myself."

"Ah, I see. What about parents?" Quent asks. Yuna found the memory of her family to painful to remember. She adverts her gaze to her reflection into the drink and says, "I don't remember them. I was taken away from them when I was five, and I haven't seen them since." Granted, what she said wasn't 100% untruthful. Quent looks at her with a empathetic stare and says, "I see, sorry to hear that."

"Thank you... but what about you? Are you new?" Yuna asks, "I don't think I ever seen you around here much." Quent give his glass back to the barkeep to have it refilled. As he was doing so, Quent says, "I came from a town called Kyrios. Ever heard of it?" Yuna shakes her head, "No, I haven't."

"Well, I was a sheriff there. I lived there with my wife and son; Blue as well."

"It sounds nice. Then why are you all the way out here? What about your family?" With the shot glass back in his hand, Quent expression intensified, squeezing the shot glass. "They were killed by wolves... along with the rest of the village" Hearing this, Yuna's eyes widened as she felt her heart stop. "Did you say... wolves, Quent?" Yuna asks, trying to hid the tremor in her voice.

"Yeah, I did. What about it? You going to be like the rest and say I'm insane?"

"N-No, of course." Quent looks at Yuna with a smirk and chuckles. "Huh, pure innocence. I like that." What Quent said was no doubt bothering Yuna. Wolves never attack people without reason; if they ever do attack, it's because they were defending themselves, or they were starving. Never had she heard of wolves destroying an entire town. "Well, are you sure that wolves did it?" she questions.

Asking that, Quent slams his fist down on the table, making Yuna shudder. "I saw them myself! I watched them as they hounded my wife and son's dead bodies! I'm not blind!" Yuna scoots closer to Quent. She places her hand on his shoulder, gently rubbing him. "I'm sorry, Quent. This must all be very difficult for you." Quent covers her hand with his and says, "No, sorry for freaking out like that." as he downs his drink. Looking over at the gun next to him, Yuna asks, "Is that why you have that gun?"

"Yeah, I've been hunting those bastards down with Blue for a while now." Shocked and scared, Yuna backs away from Quent and sits back into her spot. Sweat began to form on her forehead as he hands started to tremble. If Quent knew who she was, he would probably kill her without second thought. And speaking of wolves, Yuna jumps to a sudden realization. "Oh, my god! Toboe!" she yells. "What are you yelling about?" Quent asks.

Yuna quickly pulls out a wad of dollar bills from her pocket and sets it on the table. "Here, this should pay for it!" The barkeeper takes the bills, "Alright, much obliged." he says with satisfactions.

As Yuna runs for the door, Quent grabs her by the arm. "Hey, we ain't done talking!" Yuna rushes up to Quent and presses her lips on his left cheek, doing so made Quent let go. "Thank you, Quent. I had fun meeting you." she bows. "H-Hey, wait!" he yells as Yuna runs out the door.


	5. More of Their Kind

Yuna ran for god knows how long, yelling Toboe's name over and over as loud as she could but he didn't answer. Her worse fears made her panic and think irrational, bumping into people and into buildings as she continued to look for him.

Her blinded vision made her bump into a young girl who was carrying a paper bag. The girl and Yuna exclaim loudly as they both fall on their bottoms, the girl drops the bag on its side, her things fall onto the street. "Oh no, our groceries!" she yells. Yuna pushes herself up and picks the bag up that was laying on its side. "I-I'm so sorry! I didn't mean...!" Yuna stammers as she quickly gathers the scattered food on the ground.

"Oh no, it was my fault for running into you." she says as she helps Yuna pick up the food.

Once that was done, Yuna hands the bag to the young girl and smiles.

"Again, I'm really sorry." Yuna says as she bows. "Don't worry. Thank you for helping though." The girl looks closely at Yuna with observant eyes. Yuna, startled, says "Um, what is it?" The young girl then smiles and says, "Oh hey, I know you. You're that really pretty lady that was selling flowers in the square."

Yuna smiles back at her, happy that she acknowledged her with that compliment.

"Yes, that's me. I'm Yuna, by the way. What's yours?"

"My name's Leara."

"Nice to meet you, Leara. That's a nice name." Yuna says as she bows again to Leara. She was very kind for a human. Though she meant plenty of nice humans, there was something about her that seemed more gentle than the others. The tan-skinned girl notices Yuna continuingly look around her. Yuna was still hoping to see Toboe somewhere in the street, but it was useless. She couldn't tell from the large number of people.

"What's wrong? Are you looking for someone?" Leara asks.

"I am, in fact. Maybe you seen him. He's about... this high, he wears a red button up, and has bracelets on his right arm..." Before Yuna could finish, Leara says, "Bracelets? I know who you're talking about. I met a boy who looks exactly how you describe."

Yuna, happily, jumps and says, "You have!? Where is he?"

Leara turns to points down the street. "I met him down that way. Maybe he's still there if you hurr..."

"Okay! Thank you very much!" Yuna shouts as she runs in the direction that Leara was pointing to. Leara, confused, just waves and continues to walk ahead. The she-wolf runs to the area that Leara pointed to, but she didn't see Toboe anywhere. _"Toboe! Where are you!?"_

Yuna turned and ran down an alleyway that flowed together like a maze. Everytime she turned and searched, she ended up in the same area that she has been before, but she was determined to find the young pup before the worse came. Nearly out of breath, Yuna halts herself and heavily breaths, wiping off the sweat that formed on her brow. Yuna continued her pace, only speed walking. She didn't want to tire herself too soon before she could find him.

For what felt like a long time, Yuna turned into an alleyway and saw a familiar sight. Toboe was standing still, not moving a muscle. "There you are, Toboe. I've been looking all over..." Walking closer, Yuna saw Quent, pointing a gun at Toboe. Quent was stumbling in place, the old man must be drunk off his ass. "You...you're not a boy..." she heard Quent say. Remembering what Quent said he did; hunting wolves with Blue. Blue must have ratted him out.

Quent stops stumbling and hold his rifle up, ready to shoot Toboe.

"NO!"

Yuna kicked it into gear and ran towards them as fast as she could. Seeing Quent about to pull the trigger, Yuna, in her wolf form, jumps onto Quent, landing him on his back. "What the hell...!" he exclaims as Yuna grabbed the rifle with her mouth and tossed it to the side. Quent's dog began to bark furiously at Yuna, realizing who she really was. Blue lunges at Yuna. Yuna jumps back away from the attack and reverts to her human form.

Yuna stands back to her feet and looks back at Toboe with concerned eyes. "Toboe, are you all right?"

Toboe, with sweat dropping from his face, nods. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Their conversation is cut short when Yuna feels the coldness of the barrel against the back of her head and the click of the rifle. "You... you were one of them all along...!?" she heard Quent growl. Yuna's heart ached, feeling like she betrayed him for not telling him. Yuna twists around and locks eyes with Quent. She didn't show eyes of hate or anger, but pity and empathy.

Yuna rises both of her arms in the air.

"Yes... I'm a wolf as well. I'm sorry for lying to you..."

"Shut the hell up!" Quent cuts her off. "I should have known. The way you killed those men, their throats being ripped out like that, the blood on your face. It was right in front of me and I didn't see it. Wolves do nothing but kill, you're no different."

Yuna felt her blood boil by Quent's accusation. The crimes against his family were grave, but he didn't know that she tried to resolve it with not having to kill them a long time ago, he didn't know that those men were going to rape her and wouldn't lose a day sleep after doing the deed.

"If that's how you feel... then shoot me! You'd be doing me a favor!" she yells as tears began to build up in her eyes. Yuna just stood perfectly still, with Toboe behind her. Quent, with his finger on the trigger, stares at the she-wolf with confusion. "Leave him out of this. He's only just a pup. Kill me instead!" she yells. Quent thought he could, but for some reason, something in the back of his head made him hesitate.

In an instant, someone drops from the building and strikes Quent in the hand, causing him to drop the rifle. Yuna opened her eyes and saw a tan-skinned man, with white hair that had a ponytail in the back, turn to her. He had a X-shaped scar on his chest and wore leather clothing and black shades. "Jump, you two!" he yells.

"We were just getting ready to!" Toboe yells back.

Quickly, both the mysterious man and Toboe jump high and from wall to wall to the roof of the building. Yuna didn't follow behind, she just stared at Quent, who was holding his injured hand. Quent burns Yuna with his hateful gaze on her, making Yuna gasp and back away from him. "I'm sorry... I'm really sorry." Yuna says sadly.

Yuna follows the others lead, jumping high and then from wall to wall till she reached the roof of the building.

There, she collapse to her knees, silently weeping from the confrontation. Toboe kneels down to her and pats her back. "It's all right, Yuna. We're safe now." but that didn't make her feel any better. She felt so vile for what she done, she betrayed the trust of the man who helped her when any others would just turn away. She gave nothing in return but betrayal. "Quit your crying, you're giving me a headache." the voice of the man said.

Yuna looked up at the man, who was standing there like he was all tough. She never seem him, but Yuna automatically knew who he was. He is "Tsume", a wolf who ran a human gang, attacking supply trains that belong to the Nobles. She heard it from the crows. They said that he had scars on his body, that's how she knew that was him. Despite his comment, he reaches a hand to her. "Come on, take my hand." he stoicly says.

Yuna, face plastered with anger, slaps his hand and growls at him.

"Don't touch me!" she yelled.

Tsume didn't lose his expressionless face. With a hand on his hip, he hisses, "Maybe I should have just let you die like a dog instead of saving your ungrateful ass." Yuna stood to her feet and scoffs.

"Then why the fuck didn't you!? I was willing to die, I didn't ask for you to save me!" Tsume scoffs and turns away from her. "If that's how you feel, then get the hell away from me." he growls as he walks away. "Hmph! Fine!"

Yuna turns and was ready to jump off the roof, but Toboe grabs her by her sleeve, "Wait, Yuna! Please don't leave! Can we at least go with him?" Yuna jerks her hand away from Toboe's grip. "You want to go with him!? You know who he is, don't you?"

Toboe looks up at her and begs, "But he saved our lives. He wouldn't be all bad if he did that. Please, Yuna." Toboe's begging made her remind her of herself a long time ago. She used to believe that not everyone was naturally bad, even after she was abused, and tortured by "those men" when she was younger. That way of thinking slowly began to disapate from her logic. He did save them, and she was now feeling regretful for snapping at him. With that, Yuna sighs and nods.

"Kay, fine. But only because I don't trust leaving him alone with you."

Toboe and Yuna catch up to Tsume on the bridge.

"So who was that guy anyway? And what's up with his dog?" Toboe asks

"...I have no idea." Tsume says with no emotion. Though Yuna knew the answer, she remained silent. Walking next to Toboe, Yuna kept alert if he tries to do anything, but when Tsume turns his head to Yuna, Yuna couldn't help but blush when she saw his eyes at the corner of his shades. His eyes were a beautiful yellow that matched his handsome appearance. She sheepishly turns away from him, blushing, still feeling regretful for being a bitch to him. "Why are you following me? Thought you'd be long gone by now." he says to her.

"D-Don't flatter yourself." Yuna sheepishly exclaims, "I'm just here to make sure that you don't stab Toboe in the back... literally"

"Hmph, whatever." Yuna puffs her cheeks in indignation. Before she said anything irrational, she calms herself and says in a kinder tone. "I... I just wanted to thank you... for before. I didn't mean to snap at you like that."

"Apology accepted. Now get lost." Tsume says harshly. Yuna stops abruptly and clutches her fist, Toboe stops and starts to worry when he saw stream coming off her face. He never seen her so angry before. "I wasn't trying to apologize, you dick." Tsume stops and turns around to the two wolves. "You talk big... for a girly pup."

Yuna scoffs at what he said and crosses her arms, her cheeks blushing furiously. "Who are you calling a "girly pup"? I'll have you know that I know complex hand to hand combat and can use a human weapon if needed."

"Then you don't need me to protect you... now get lost. You're starting to piss me off, and that only happens when I'm around idiots."

Yuna sticks her tongue out childishly as Tsume turns back around and continues walking. "Hey, wait..." Toboe begs.

"Let him go, Toboe... wolves like him, you need to keep away from anyway." Yuna says as she gently places her hand on his back.

In moments, Tsume turns his head and saw the two wolves gone, out of sight and out of mind.

Yuna and Toboe continue walking down an empty street. They were both sinking into depression, Yuna because of Quent, and Toboe because of Tsume. He was happy to find another wolf, but was sadden that he didn't want nothing to do with them. Yuna didn't care though, he was no different than any other human thug. But she kept having this flattering feeling in her gut whenever she thought about the way he looked at her, and she felt more vile than she did already.

"Are you all right, Yuna?" Toboe interrupts Yuna's train of thought.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, your cheeks were really red when Tsume looked at you, and you were getting really angry."

Yuna furiously covers her cheeks, which felt extremely warm from blushing, as they continue to walk. "I-It's just your imagination." she stammers. "Which reminds me. What did you do with my basket of flowers?" Toboe fiddles with his index fingers and stammers as his cheeks turn red.

"Come on now, I'm not going to get mad."

"Um, well... I dropped them off a ledge as I was running... sorry." Yuna kept herself from getting upset. She treasured those flowers more than anything but she knew it wasn't Toboe's fault. "Oh! But I did save this one though." Toboe says as he pulls out a beautiful white flower from his pocket. Yuna gasps as this flower was more important than the rest. The white flower is called a "Lunar Tear." Her grandfather told her about it when she was younger. It was said that anyone who collected enough Lunar Tears can have one wish granted, but they're very rare as the fields that grew them either withered or were moved somewhere else. Her grandfather only had one.

Yuna always kept it with her, she never sold it.

Yuna takes the flower from Toboe and places the flower into her hair.

"Thank you so much Toboe. This means alot to me." Yuna exclaims happily as she hugs him tightly. Toboe cheeks turn bright red as he giggles and says, "Sure, no problem."


	6. Unintentional Harm

_**I apologize for the lateness of this chapter. I was having massive writer's block and I was working on other fanfics instead. But I overcame it:) Enjoy the new chapter:)**_

* * *

The sun, colored in crimson orange, began to lower itself, obscured by the walls of the city that slowly covered it as it fell. The two young wolves continue to wonder about the streets nevertheless. For Yuna mostly, she favored the coming night. It was during the night that she truly felt at home. It was the night she truly felt like a wolf. Though she didn't mind her human form, it was just a illusion; nothing real.

Inhaling the scent of the cool air, a gentle smile crept on her face.

Toboe tugs on the sleeve of her jacket and look up at her with a silly smile. "Hey, Yuna?" Toboe asks.

"Yes? What is it?" Yuna answers.

Toboe wanted to see that human girl again, the same girl that directed Yuna when she got separated from each other. Before Yuna met him, he was given food by the human girl known as Leara. She was kind and gentle. In some way, the memories of the old woman that adopted him ran through his mind, taking in comfort of the memories: The nights by the fire, sleeping next the woman as she took in the warmth of the fire, the days she would coo and give him a good scratching. It was most likely after her death, he just wanted to feel that kind of affection again. But he didn't know how she would react if he asked.

She's just like him. She was raised by humans as well. But unlike him, she has seen more of the cruelty that humanity has to offer, but this he didn't know.

Yuna leans down to his height, tenderly smiling as she said, "What is it, Toboe? You don't need to hesitate, I won't get mad."

Blushing as Yuna's innocent beauty is shadowed by the dying sun, he says, "Um, you see... There's this girl... a human girl that I-I... wanted to meet. And I was wondering... if I..." Yuna could see his cheeks grow more red with each stammering word that he spoke. Hearing the hesitation in his voice, she couldn't help but chuckle, knowing that he obviously has a crush on this girl. Smoothing the wolf-boy's head, she giggles softly.

"You want to see her?" she finishes.

Toboe sheepishly nods, adverting his sight to his feet as he awaits her answer. She had her doubts. Yuna knew that not every human was a cruel person, but she wasn't about to give the benefit of the doubt on this one. However, one look on the pup's blushing face, she felt her heart soften. He was young, yes, yet he is still somewhat naive. With her hands on her hips, she smiles and says, "Well, if you really want to, I don't particularly mind..." With her answer, Toboe smiles with his mouth agape. How happy he was by her answer.

"Really? Thanks..."

"But I want to be there when you meet her. Is that a problem?" she interrupts.

Toboe shakes his head, "No, not at all. I think you might like her too, Yuna."

Toboe takes Yuna by her hand and drags her along with him. "I think her scent is this way. Lets go." he exclaims as he pulls Yuna with him. Yuna chuckled by the pup's excitement. Deep down, she really hoped that his happiness won't be short-lived. He was still so young. And the good thing that was in his life has passed away. She wanted to make sure that he won't become bitter like everyone else in this world.

Watching Toboe drag her along, she remembers the time when she was younger. The first time that she came to this city with her grandfather... she now understood from her grandfather's point of view, what it is like to be in his shoes...

_**~x~**_

_White snow... bitter cold winds. An older man, dressed in a oversized robe, braves through the dropping temperatures and the raging snow and winds. His feet ached from the long journey, his throat was beyond dry. His hood kept most of the wind from bashing against his face, but he has been in this environment for sometime now. Despite the appropriate wear, it was worn, moth eaten, and torn to its point._

_On his back, he carried a young child. The strings of her vanilla hair swayed with the winds from the edges of her hood. Her robe shift on occasion from the raging winds. When it did, it revealed numerous burns, cuts, and bruises on her tiny legs and arms. Most of her wounds were still fresh, and with the wind smashing against them, she whimpers in pain. The cold felt like the lite cigarettes that were once pressed against her skin. She tried her best not to scream, she didn't want to complain. The young girl knew, or at least thought, that this old man that was carrying her had it worse. His fingers were starting to freeze, he could feel the burning sensation of the cold, though his wasn't as bad as for her. Resting her achy head against his back, she prays for a relief from the fire-like cold._

_Feeling the old man stop, she lifts her head up from his broad shoulders to see why he did._

_Though the raging snow made her vision hazy, she could see the image of a large dorm-like city. The lights from the city seemingly pierced through the white that clouded their vision._

_"Finally... we are here." The older man said, she could hear the relief in the tone of his voice. "Hang on just a bit longer, Yuna. We're almost there."_

_The young girl answers with a nod._

_The old man approaches the city gates. A young Yuna watches in awe as they open slowly, perking her ears when the doors enact a loud creaking noise. As the old man sighs with reliefs, he hastefully walks into the city, holding onto Yuna evermore tighter. The long journey was finally over._

_Walking into the city, the temperature quickly changed. Instead of the below-zero temperature, it was warm as the summer season. Yuna eyes widened as she scanned all the buildings and people that were out and about. Never has she seen so many people and many stone buildings before. This was very different from her usual environment, which consisted of a small four corner room behind steel bars._

_"Are you okay enough to walk?" the old man asks the young girl, to which she nods._

_He gingerly sets her on the ground, holding her by her shoulders so she could keep balance. She was somewhat weak, what with being starved and beaten by "them", but nevertheless, she didn't want to complain. Yuna gently takes hold of his large hand, shuddering upon feeling how cold it was. The old man looks down at her, lightly squeezing her trembling hand as he tenderly smiled._

_The two flip off their hoods, thankful of the warmer change of temperature. The two then set out into the city._

_While they walked around, Yuna became evermore fascinated by the size of this town. Often stopping and looking at all the stands that were set up on the streets, admiring all the wondrous items that were on display. Some of the towns folk in the square cooed at the young girl's excitement. Despite being ragged, she was of innocent beauty. She talked with child-like pronouncations and spoke in a refine manner, to which confused some of the folk. On the surface, she looked to be a low-class girl._

_The older man picks up the doll-like girl and holds her in his arms, she wraps her arms around his neck to keep herself up. The old man smiles at the young girl, making the young child blush. He looked to be going on his golden years, but he was very big and muscular. For her, he was the most handsome man she has ever seen, or as she put, the most beautiful. He was different than the rest. He was one of them, the men that held her captive, but he was gentle, warm, and kind. Whenever they would refuse to feed her, he would sneak her food whenever he could. Whenever their beatings got too rough, he would stop them and, if provoked, fight against them. She could see, see the disgusted look on his face when the others tormented her. It was a curious thing, that someone like him is working with men like them._

_She was afraid of him, no doubt, but she didn't know who to trust. He helped her after all, so he must be a trusting person._

_He carries her as he enters into the town's inn._

_After talking to the woman at the front desk, she hands the older man a key to his room. Yuna waves at the older woman as the old man climbs up the stairs to their room. The old man inserts the key into the keyhole and turns, pushing open the door and entering, shutting the door behind him as he did._

_The room was rather spacious, only two large beds, a round table, and a fireplace at the far end of the room. The old man sits the sleepy girl down on the bed. Her eyes were barely kept open, she kept yawning and rubbing away the grogginess. Their journey to this city was a long one. Too long for young one such as her, they were both tired no doubt._

_"Here, let me get in under the covers." the old man says as he pulls away the covers. Yuna was too tired to push herself up to lay under them, so the old man picks the young girl into his arms, laying her head against the soft pillow. Before he pulled the covers over, he stopped upon seeing her exposed skin. The child's leg and arms were riddled with every kind of wound: Cigarette burns, cuts from knives, bruises from the kicks of their steel boots..._

_He looks upon them in disgust, disgust in himself. The day that the young girl was thrown into her cell, everything he had done to honor his position as a soldier was questioned. He loathed himself for not prevent such abuse towards a beautiful child who has done no wrong._

_Yuna saw a look of sadness in his eyes and she knew that he felt guilty._

_Yuna opened her mouth to say something, she wanted to tell him not to feel bad. He has done nothing wrong, he righted the wrong by saving her, but is interrupted as the old man speaks while pulling the covers over her._

_"Please, get some rest, Yuna..." he says with a sad smile, "I'm going to go get some things in the market. I'll be right back..." Before he turned to leave, the young girl quickly grasped his hand and hugged it to her chest, begging for him not to go._

_"No! Please, don't leave!" she shouts as tears began to swell up in her eyes, "If you leave... then the Mommy look-alike and those mean men will come after me..." Yuna presses her face against the old man's large hand._

_"Please... stay... I don't want to be alone again... I don't want you to disappear like Daddy did..." she begs as she chokes back tears_

_The old man's heart swelled with pity for the child. She was only the age of five when she was taken away, taken away from the love that she needed to grow. He felt responsible for her misfortune._

_The old man lets go of her hand and pulls back the covers, laying himself next to her._

_"All right... I'll stay till you fall asleep, okay?" he says, earning a small nod from her._

_The two lay down their head against the soft pillow, staring back into each others eyes. The older man smiles, gently rubbing her back as he waited for her to fall asleep. Yuna was blushing furiously from the alluring scent coming from him. Despite the long journey, he smelled of a sweet lavender scent. "Oh! Before I forget..." the old man exclaims. Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a golden locket. Yuna's eyes widened, a large smile crept on her face._

_She takes the locket from his hand and hugs it close to her chest._

_This locket belong to her, given to her by her real father on her fifth birthday. It was taken away from her when she was kidnapped, and that was nearly five years ago. Every moment she was in her cell, she wanted to hold the locket again. The locket symbolizes the bond she had between her father and herself. She missed him terribly. Most nights, she would force herself to stay awake. Whenever she slept, she dreamt of him, making her miss him even more._

_"Thank you, mister!" she says, hugging the old man tightly._

_He chuckles from the young girl's happiness and says as he smoothes her silk hair, "Of course, sweetie. I couldn't have forgotten it."_

_The young girl kisses the older man on the cheek, hugging him around his neck while she layed on his chest._

_"You were always the nice one... you remind me so much of my Daddy... I love you a lot, just as I love Daddy a lot." Yuna whispers, letting out a soft yawn. She took comfort in the arms of the kind man. She once again felt love for another. Closing her eyes, she imagined she was laying against her father's chest like she used to do when she was upset. This comfortable warmth, she hadn't felt in a long time._

_The older man smiles sadly as he smoothed her hair._

_"Good night... Grandpa." she mutters before rest snuck upon her eyes. The old man was humbled by what his title was. But at the same time, was thankful that this child beared him no ill-will. It may have been selfish to think that, but he felt joyful anyhow. He has long to have children of his own, and for those children to have children as well, but he missed his chance. So in a way, this was his second chance.. Humble and sadden, he forgets the errand he was going to run and decides to stay._

_After he presses his lips against her forehead, he lays back against the feathered pillow and closes his eyes._

_**~x~**_

"Here it is." Toboe announces.

Entering into the grassy part of the city, Yuna found herself fascinated by the trees and the green grass surrounding the cottage home. She had never been in this part of the town, and almost regretted that she hadn't before. It had such a cozy feel to it, compared to the inn that she stayed in. After her grandfather's death, the coziness of it worn off.

Looking at the home, a young girl with tan-skin appears near the window, letting her arm out as a bird rested upon it. Yuna recognized her. It was that Leara girl that she bumped into. With that, Yuna sighs with relief. If this was the girl that he spoke of, then there was nothing to worry about. From that short time that she met her, she seemed like a kind person.

"Go ahead, Toboe. I'll just wait here." Yuna says with a smile.

Toboe looks back up at her and says, "You're not coming too?"

Yuna shakes her head, "No... but it's all right. You go ahead." she answers. Toboe smiles and nods, making way towards the home. Yuna could help but chuckle.

Laying against the wall of the building, she sighs as she lays her head against the wall. Staring up at the darkening sky, Yuna cups the locket in her hand and opens it, revealing a tiny picture in the oval shaped space. She just stares at the photo, smiling sadly while stroking the man in the picture with her thumb. How she did miss her family, now that she is reminded of them. For so long she tried to block out the memories of them. They're just too painful, but something always pulls her back.

Suddenly hearing footstep approaching her, she quickly shuts the locket and lets it fall back to her chest. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up when she caught a familiar scent.

Turning her head, she saw the thuggish looking Tsume approach her with his hands tucked in his pockets. Tsume stops abruptly and lifts his head, locking eyes with the she-wolf.

"Oh, it's you." Yuna says kindly.

"Oh, it's you..." Tsume replies sarcastically

Yuna's cheeks puff in indignation. She was just trying to be polite, why couldn't he do the same she thought. Before she could let her temper go out of control, Yuna smiles at him and says, "What are you still doing here? I heard that an order to arrest all gangs was issued out... They're arresting anyone on sight who are part of the gangs."

Tsume leans his back against the wall next to her and replies, "Hm, should I care? It really doesn't matter to me."

Yuna rests her back against the wall with Tsume and says, "I can't tell whether you're confident... or just prideful."

Both Yuna and Tsume lock eyes with each other. Though his eyes were covered with black shades, a glint of his eye color she could she. Yuna couldn't help but feel drawn to them. She tried to imagine a smile on his handsome face, though it was somewhat difficult what with his gang vibe and attitude. But her grandfather always told her to give people the benefit of the doubt, yet sometimes, it was easier said than done. Tsume didn't say, but seeing her face glowing from the dying sun, he had to admit that she was very pleasing on the eyes. The flower that rested in her hair seemed to almost give her beauty a more of a innocent aura.

"What about you?" Tsume says, "Why are you still here? I'd figured you would have left by now." Yuna opened her mouth to answer, but she didn't know her exact answer. Maybe it was fear that kept her from leaving, she didn't know.

"...Not like I have anywhere else to go." she replies, "Is it the same for you?" she asks kindly with her attention to him. Before Tsume could answer, they both are startled by the sound of howling. Fearing the worse, Yuna and Tsume jolt their heads in the direction of the sound. Yuna gasps, feeling her muscles tighten up and her stomach knot.

Toboe was sitting in front of Leara, in his wolf form, howling to the sky. Leara was holding her blood covered dead bird in her arms, staring at the exposed wolf with shock.

Both Yuna and Tsume push themselves off the wall and kick it into gear towards the two. With each running side by side, the two grab Toboe by the skin of his neck and pull him with them. Toboe lets out a yelp as they two carry him away.

_**~x~**_

"What in the hell were you think!?"

Toboe flinches to Yuna's raised voice, keeping his hands clasped to his sides.

"Why did you reveal your true form to that girl!? You know very well how people react to wolves!"

Tsume tries to ignore the two, rolling his eyes as he watched the sun finally disappear, laying on the window sill of his hideout.

Toboe didn't know what to say. He tried to speak, but it would just come out as stammering. Feeling Yuna's angered stare upon him, he lowers his head and sits against the wall. Bringing his knees to his chest, he says,

"I'm sorry... It's just... I never meant to kill anything. I-I..."

Yuna brushes back the ends of her hair and sighs. She had to remind herself that Toboe was still very young. Unlike Yuna, and most likely Tsume, he hasn't see the stupidity of the fears humans have. Fear can drive a person to do foolish things.

Yuna sits besides Toboe and wraps her arms around him, giving him a tender look.

"I'm sorry. I don't want to yell at you, but you must understand, Toboe, that I just don't want you to get hurt."

Toboe looks back at Yuna with a sadden expression and says, "I... I know. But still, I..."

Toboe turns away from her and continues, "You know, Granny... she found me outside the city gates. She said that I was so little, that my eyes were bearly open." Toboe raises his arm that was decorated with the sliver bracelets and says, "She gave these to me. And we been together ever since."

Yuna felt her heart break with every word Toboe said, mixed with the sad expression on his face. Yuna rests her forehead against Toboe's head, tenderly smiling at him, "... I understand, Toboe." she says kindly

"You do understand that woman tamed you. She kept you as a pet..." Tsume says harshly. Yuna looked back at him with her face twisted in anger.

"I don't expect you to understand, Tsume. But don't add your input when you DON'T understand..." she growls, to which Tsume scoffs and turns his head back to the night sky.

The memories of the old woman began to tear at the young pup. Her death wasn't his fault to be sure, he's still just a pup. What could he do? But nevertheless, he still blamed himself.

Toboe presses his knees closer to his chest, "I-I wanted to protect her, but she still..." Toboe says with tremor in his voice.

"She still threw you out?" Tsume finished.

"...She still died." Toboe presses his face into his knees as he weeps silently, "I let her die..." Yuna's heart continued to break from the pup's regret. If anyone could understand how he felt, she could. Wanting desperatly to soothe him, Yuna hugs him tighter, gently stroking his head.

"Shh. It's all right, Toboe. It's all right." she whispers tenderly, trying to hold back her own tears.

The three hear distant footsteps approached the front door of his hideout. Yuna tried to sniff for the scent, to see if she could recognize it, but it wasn't familiar at all. Tsume jumps off the window sill and walks toward the door.

"Tsume, who is...?" Yuna asked.

"Just stay there and be quiet." Tsume interrupted.

Standing in the doorway, Tsume began to talk to someone that sounded like a man. Yuna lets go of Toboe and pulls herself up to see who it was. She saw some thuggish looking man that wore goggles over his head. And from the way the two talked, they must know each other. Curious, she slowly took steps towards them to have a listen.

"...I'm sorry, Tsume. But you're just too different from us." she heard the man say. Standing behind Tsume, she watches the man leave in the opposite direction.

"Who was that?" Yuna asked.

Tsume turns his head and looks down at the doll-like girl.

"...Nobody." he says very stern. Yuna could see something behind his expressionless face. Though she couldn't outright tell, she got the feeling that Tsume was sinking into loneliness. Yet, he didn't look like he cared, and even if he did, she didn't know what to do or say.

Pausing for a moment, Yuna rests her hand on Tsume's arm, staring back at him with a kind face. Tsume just stared back at her with no expression.

"Listen, Tsume..." Yuna was about to say, but suddenly, a loud, high-pitched screaming reached the wolves ears. The scream pierced through her eardrums, causing tremendous aching pain. Yuna covers both her ears and falls to her knees, whimpering in pain.

"Hey, what is it!?"

Tsume asks in a panic as he kneels down to Yuna and grabs her shoulders, but Yuna didn't answer back. Her whimpering intensified with every second that pasted. However, that was overshadowed by Toboe's pained screams. Toboe was covering his ears as well, yelling in pain from whatever was making that noise.

"Toboe, be quiet! Just shut up!" Tsume screams, but it did no good. Toboe continues to yell in pain while Yuna begged for the scream to stop. She didn't know what but, whatever was making that noise, it made her heart ache badly. Tears from her eyes fall to the ground, she couldn't take it anymore.

Lasting for a few seconds more, the scream was finally silent.

Yuna, becoming aware of the silence, uncovers her ears and wipes away the tears that streamed down her cheeks.

"You okay?" Tsume asked.

Yuna looked up at him and nods while smiling.

"Y-Yes... I'm okay." she replies. Yuna stands to her feet and looks back at Toboe. His screams stopped too, but he still had his ears covered.

"Are you all right, Toboe?" Yuna asks.

Toboe slowly uncovers his ears and looks back at her.

"Yes, I'm fine, too." he says, earning a smile from Yuna. Yuna turn back at Tsume with a concerned expression on her face.

"What do you think made that noise?" she asks him. He doesn't answer upon hearing a low pitched screeching noise outside. Both Yuna and Tsume look out the door and found a large ship, flying over head. The ship was massive, it was most likely the size of 30 houses in the city combined, maybe more. Yuna smelled a familiar scent from the ship. There was a strange scent of flowers coming from the ship... but also from someone else.

"What in the hell is that?" Yuna asks.

"... A Noble ship." Tsume replies. Upon hearing his answer, Yuna eyes widened in shock. If it is a Noble ship, then she knew right away who the other scent belonged to. Tsume then says, "Come on, get back inside." as he walks back in the hideout.

Yuna instead watched the ship go by. She wanted to watch it till it was out of her sight. Yuna clasped her hand close to her chest, holding back to urge to call out to the ship. The other scent coming from the ship, she knew who it belong to.

It belonged to him... It belong to her Father...


	7. Thank You, Tsume

**Gah! I'm so sorry for not updating for the longest time. This chapter really had me at a stomp. I wanted to put Yuna leaving with the wolves in one chapter, but I don't want to make it too lengthy for you guys. **

**I really hope you enjoy this chapter anyhow, since this chapter mainly tries to focus on Yuna.****  
**

**Oh, and to some people who asked about her parentage... this chapter should explain it. Anyways, leave a review; let me know what you guys think and thank you for adding this story to your favorites and follows:)**

**I'll try not to let any of you do.**

* * *

_"Papa! Hurry up! Try to catch me!"_

_Like demon possessed, a young child of vanilla hair and twin colored eyes (sapphire blue and jade green) in a pure white dress runs all her might in the meadow of lilies. Trail behind her was a tall man of physical strength, smiling happily and laughing as he tries to catch the young child. Though he could easily catch her, he lets her win at her own game. The girl did have trouble running, having to carry the hems of her dress to not worry about tripping on them. Nonetheless, she continued her escape from her father._

_Through her laughter, the young girl loses her balance and lets out a terrified shriek as she falls to the grass._

_"Ah-ha! I have you."_

_The father rushes on the fallen girl and picks the young girl up by her waist, holding in the air as far as he could reach, causing the child to shriek happily. The young girl stenches her arms out as like a bird ready for take off. Feeling brushing of the wind against her face, she never felt so alive. The two pair begin to laugh joyfully. The father hugs the young child, allow her to sit on his arm as she wrapped her arms around his head, running her delicate fingers through his soft, dark hair. The father carefully places his beautiful daughter back on her feet, with her quickly take hold of her father's hand as she gained her balance. As she looks at him with a goofy smile, the father smiles back tenderly._

_"Papa, come with me. I want to show you something." The young girl excitedly exclaims as she pulls her father gently. The father laughs hearty, allowing the young girl to drag him to her destination. _

_"And what is this that you want to show me, Yuna?" The father asked._

_Young Yuna continues to drag him, staring back at him with a secretive look. She didn't to ruin the surprise, no matter how much she wanted to._

_"I can't tell you. I want to show you."_

_Dragging her father to the hill that overlooked the ocean, Yuna motions him to sit in the cut grass; which he complies. "Stay here. And no peeking. Kay?" she asks with her childish pronunciations. The father gives a soft chuckle before nodding his head. "Wait, I want you to close your eye." _

_The father laughs at his daughter's forced seriousness, closing his one visible eye as he leaned back_

_"All right. If that's what you wish." he says._

_Once she saw her father has covered his vision, Yuna quickly scurried away from her father and towards the area of the meadow where the flowers were the most populated. Kneeling down, the young girl quickly gathers as much of the flowers as she could, gingerly pulling them from the ground so she wouldn't damage them. Once she had the amount she need, Yuna quickly turned around to see if her father wasn't trying to peeking._

_Happy to see he was complying with her wish, she carries the armful of white lilies and lays them on the ground._

_In a matter of minutes, the father felt something cool and soft wrap itself around his head. Opening his eye, he found Yuna standing beside him like a child at Christmas, happily swaying back and forth with her hands clasped behind her back. The father reaches to feel what is on his head, feeling the softness of a flower petal between his fingertips._

_"I made you a crown of flowers, daddy. Do you like them?" she asks with a large grin._

_The father gingerly removes the crown of flowers from his head and marvels of the "neat" craftsmanship of the piece. The crown, woven together like the fabric of a cloth, wasn't without its flaws. But any good father would be happy of the effort it took to make this._

_"I love it very much, but..." The father places the crown around the young girl's head, brushing away stray strings of hair that were caught in the crown. "You look so much more beautiful than I when you wear it." With faint blushes on her cheek, the young girl climbs onto her father's lap, laying lazily against his chest. The father wraps his one arm around her as he smooths her silk-like hair. Yuna nearly kept shutting her eyes from sleepiness, overly comfortable in her father's embrace._

_"Oh, and before I forget..."_

_Reaching into his pocket, her father pulls out a tiny golden locket._

_"This is for you, Yuna. Take a look inside."_

_Yuna gently took the locket into her hands, opening the small door of the jewelry. Inside the locket was a tiny picture, depicting Yuna as a smiling baby, being held by both her mother and father whom both were smiling tenderly down at their child. The child was a sheer resemblance of her mother, from her face, to her blonde hair. However, Yuna would look past how much she saw her mother in her and looked for what she got from her father. Not a lot, but she thought maybe the nose was a close match. Closing the door with her thumb, Yuna smiles up at her father, hugging him tightly around his torso._

_"Thank you, papa. I love it." she says as she buries into his chest._

_"Well, you only turn five once."_

_The father lays his back against the soft grass, covering his one eye from the sun in the cloudless sky. Yuna sits on top of his chest, holding the locket against her chest. The father, noticing the long timed stare of the child on his chest, leans his head up with a questioning look._

_"Hmm? What is it, Yuna?" he asks._

_Without answering him, Yuna slowly reaches with her free hand to the black eye patch covering his left eye. Covering the base of the leather patch with her tiny hand, the father gently takes her hand into his with a sadden expression written upon his face. _

_Ever since she could remember, her father has had this eye patch over his eye, even before she was born. Though he never talked about it, she has always wanted to see what was it he was trying to hide. Yuna tightens her grip in her father's hand and shyly cocks her head._

_"Papa, I have a favor to ask."_

_"And what favor is that?" he asks kindly._

_"I...Well... Why do you wear an eye patch, daddy? Mommy won't tell me, 'cause she said you wouldn't show her."_

_Upon her question, his face darkens. Seeing this, Yuna was regretful that she asked. The father sadly smiles as he runs her fingers through her silk hair. "Come here. I'll tell you." he says. On cue, Yuna removes herself from his chest and lays next to him, using his open right arm as a cusion. The father turns over and locks his one eye _

_"Do you remember the story I told you? About Paradise?"_

_Yuna nods. "Uh-huh. The place where wolves go when the world comes to an end." Despite talking of the apocalypse, she said it in such a matter-of-fact tone._

_"Yes. Your great-grandfather, Darica the First, cursed our family when he discovered a way into Paradise... This patch hides that very curse." he says as he places his hand over said patch._

_"Is it a bad thing, daddy?" _

_"No. Of course not. But..." Her father brushes away strings of hair that obscured his child's twin-colored eyes. "I'm happy. The moment that you were born, I was relieve to see that you don't bear this curse. I was happy the moment you first open your eyes, and I saw how beautiful they were."_

_As he spoke, Yuna noticed how her father's expression was darkening with each word. Scooting closer comfortably into him, Yuna buries her face into his chest, inhaling his scent in._

_"... Papa?"_

_"Yes?"_

_Yuna gives a soft yawn before she speaks. "What if I was born with this curse that you have? Would you... Would you not love me anymore?" _

_Yuna opened her mouth to speak more, but her father stops her with his index finger pressed against her lips. "A father would never hate his own daughter. I -your mother and I- are happy that you are here. And everyday, with you here I have a reason to smile."_

_Yuna pushes herself up and lays on top of chest, giving him her usual large grin. "Of course, silly. You're my daddy, I was born to be with you."_

_Her father smiles and hearty laughs. "Well, I guess that's why I'm always so happy."_

_~x~_

Tsume groggily awoke, temporarily blinded by the morning sun that shined in through the open window. Blocking the sunlight with his arm, he sits up, stretching his arms and legs from the discomfort he had sleeping on the floor. This morning felt strange to him. He woke with almost full expectation that his gang was by his side, but he remembered their refusal to join him as he leaned against the wall and stared blankly at the ceiling. Instead of them, he found himself in the company of a rant and a stubborn bitch. But it wasn't just that.

In this city resides a beautiful girl, named "The Flower Maiden", that was created via alchemy from a Lunar Flower, a flower that has long since went extinct. The humans couldn't and didn't notice the sweet scent that radiated from her throughout the city. Only a wolf's scent could truly experience the smell. However, her scent was now nowhere in nose range. The scent was last coming from the noble ship from the other night.

But whatever the case, it didn't matter to him.

Tsume takes a quick glance at the very two that gave him company. Toboe, in his wolf form, slept soundly in the corner of the room. The pup looked so peaceful as his form rose and fell with each breath. Yuna, on the other hand, was still in her human form. Yuna had fallen asleep sitting up. Her back was against the wall, her head dangled off to the side; occasionally, she jerked her head when her weight would pull her forward.

Yuna began to lean foward, and doing so, the pale white flower fell from her hair, gently falling onto her lap.

Tsume examines her face. It was strange how much her face resembled a doll, how silk and clean she was. The she-wolf was smiling, but it wasn't like any of the smiles that he has seen in the short time he has known her. Rather, her smile was very tiny but also was very gentle and sweet. Whatever the girl was dreaming of, it was obviously a time that was happier than this.

Tsume sighs tiredly, leaning his head back and shutting his eyes for a moment. Add to his grogginess, he began to feel frustrated. He didn't know what to plan next.

With the police force rounding up every gang member they can find... it would be smart to move on.

_~x~_

_"Wake up, you little bitch!" _

_On cue, a bucket of ice cold water is poured over a unconscious little girl. Yuna awoke from her slumber loudly, pushing her tiny body up as she coughs violently. Her hair and white dress soaked, the girl began to shiver. She wraps her arms around herself as she observed her surroundings. She now found herself in an environment that she didn't recognize. It was hard to even recognize anything to begin with as the room was pitch black, save for the light that seeped in from the hallway. All she could make out was that she was in a small, metal room with nothing but a steel bed in the right corner of the room._

_Yuna saw a tall figure standing still and stoic in front of an open doorway. The man threw the bucket to the side and backed away from the doorway. In doing so, he slammed the cell door shut._

_"Now shut up till Lady Jaguara comes and decides what to do with you." _

_As the man walks away, Yuna forces herself to stand, ignoring the pain that screamed throughout her whole body. She nearly falls as she stands; her legs were as cold as death and had no feeling in them. She stumbles to the cell door, falling forward and using the steel bars to hold herself. Yuna pushes her tiny face in between the bars and screams out._

_"Let me out! I-I haven't done anything wrong! I... I want to go home!" she pleads as tears fall from her face. However, the halls were empty. The only thing that responded to her was her own echo. The girl knew already that none of her begging would bring anyone. She backs away from the cell door, backing away till her back hit the wall. Yuna slides down the cold steel wall, burying her face into her knees that were against her chest._

_Yuna tries to backtrack the events that lead her to such a horrid place. But she couldn't remember. The only thing that she could remember was being grabbed by someone from behind, they place a cloth with a odd scent over her mouth and she began to feel exhausted... then nothing. _

_Slient weeping escaped her breath. She didn't want to be in this horrible place. She didn't want to be left in the dark, alone and cold. Yuna tried to remember the warmth of her father's embrace to ignore the bitter cold that coated her body. In a way, it calmed her and made her feel warmer than what she felt; but it wasn't enough. The one thing she wanted to be with was her father. Her father would protect from what ever horror was being planned for her_

_Yuna reaches her neck to clutch the locket. However, the oval jewelry was missing from her neck._

_Yuna gasps. "My necklace! Oh no! Where is it!?"_

_Yuna quickly stood and looked all over the room to find the locket. The lack of light didn't help matters as she ran around in the small cell. There wasn't much place for it to hide. There was nothing in the cell besides the steel plate for a bed that was chained to the wall to stay aloft. Yuna pokes her head under said steel bed, yet she came up empty handed. Yuna's lower lip begins to quiver as she pulls her head away and rests on her knees._

_"W-Where is i-it...? I want daddy's present!" she exclaims with a breaking voice._

_"... Oh, do you mean this?" _

_Yuna shudders hearing the unexpected voice. The voice alone told it was a woman, but she recognized the voice. Yuna turns her head to the source of the voice. In her sights, just behind the cell door, a woman in noble clothing dangled the locket by the chain. The upper half of her face was hidden behind a masquerade mask-like helmet that was dazzled with clean black, white, and gold colors. _

_Yuna gingerly stood to her feet, feeling a sense of relief for two reasons: Her locket was in her reach. And her mother was here._

_"Mommy... you came to save me." she weakly says as she stumbles towards the necklace that dangled in her hand that was stuck out in between the bars. "And you found the locket daddy gave me. Please give it back-"_

_Yuna tries to reach for locket, standing on her tippy toes to compensate for her short height, but the woman pulls it away from her._

_"Pathetic child. Can you not tell the difference between me and that mother of yours?" Pure venom seeped out her mouth. _

_The woman removes the helmet, and in doing so, her long blonde hair fell almost to the floor. Yuna gasps from the sight before her. The woman was a sheer resemblance of her mother. Her eyes, hair, facial features, even her voice almost replicated her mother's more soft voice. However, there was one difference that Yuna could see from her and her mother: The woman before her had hate and insanity behind those cold eyes of hers, unlike her mother's warm and tender gaze._

_"Y-You're not my mother... What are you?" Yuna whimpers, slowly backing away from the cell door. Being close to the woman, the hair on the back of her neck stood. This woman practically reeked of hate._

_The woman let out a soft, yet mocking chuckle. "It doesn't matter to you who I am. You won't let you live long enough to begin with." _

_Yuna backs away into the wall, and still tries to stay away from her as much as possible even though there wasn't anymore room to escape. The woman's eyes narrow down at the locket in her hand, opening the tiny door to reveal the picture contained. As if she was in pain, the woman began to tremble in anger, gritting her teeth and breathing heavily. Her eyes narrow to the man in the picture, then to the baby in he and his wife's arms. Her insides began to twist, disgusted and angry by the very thing._

_Yuna tries to stop the shaking of her hands and legs. She feared for whatever this woman was going to next, she looked on the verge of exploding and attacking everything in sight. However, the woman suddenly began to calm down, shutting the locket with her thumb and brushing back her bangs after a large sigh._

_"You're truly disgusting..." The woman hissed. She sent her hateful glare at the girl who was on her knees. Yuna shudders under her sight. "To think my sister could produce a disgusting thing like you, and with My lord Darcia."_

_Yuna is taken back, to say the least, by the woman's words._

_"I will have you suffer. I will have you begging for death soon enough." And with that, the woman turns and walks away. Yuna could see a sickening grin coming from her as the woman was out of view. She would be relieved to see her leave, but she still had one thing..._

_Yuna forces herself to stand. Nearly tripping as she runs to the cell door, she grabs hold of the bars and tries to shake them._

"No, wait! You still have my locket! Please, papa gave it to me! I want it back! Please give it back! PLEASE!"

_Yet she didn't respond. The only thing that could be heard was the little girl's cries and screams..._

_~x~_

On the verge of falling back asleep. Tsume nearly drift away as he leaned his head against the wall. Tsume woke suddenly to the sound of quiet whimpering. He sits himself up and turns to see the she-wolf, appearing like she was in a massive amount of pain. Yuna was biting her lower lip, so much so that blood was beginning to draw. Tears began to seep from her tightly shut eyes. And strangely, Yuna was covering her genital area with her trembling arm and was moaning in a rather sexual, yet painful manner.

"It hurts... Please stop... N-N-No more, please. Daddy...!" Yuna mutters. Blood began to fall from her wound onto the white flower in her lap.

Tsume was obviously taken back by what was happening before him. And even felt somewhat concerned, yet still was annoyed. He picks himself up and walks to her, kneeling down to her height and lightly shaking her shoulder to wake her.

"Hey, Yuna, wake up..."

His words didn't hit home. Yuna continued to cry and mutter incoherently. Tsume grabs hold of both of her shoulders and tries to shake her with more force.

"Come on, wake up!"

On that moment, Yuna let out a terrified scream. Toboe jolted awake from his slumber as her screams pierced his eardrums. Sitting himself up, he gasps upon seeing what was before him. Even though she appeared to be sleeping, Yuna continues to scream as she throws slaps and punches in Tsume's direction.

"W-What's wrong with her!?" The pup asked, his voice creaked from his worry. Without answering him, Tsume, trying to avoid her attacks, takes hold of both her wrist and pins them against the wall.

"Goddamn it! Wake the hell up!"

Yuna continues to try to struggle away from him as much as she could. In her head, the pain of their forced entry, the burns of their cigarettes, and the coldness of water as she was hosed down, she was remembering the pain. Not only remembering, but feeling the pain as if she was back in that cell. Tsume holding her down, for all she, her tormented mind, could comprehend, she was being held down like they usually did to her.

Just like those days, she frantically tried to escape; kicking, slapping, and throwing curses at her assailant.

Yuna's eyes shot open, but in blind rage, lunges at Tsume biting at the crook of his neck as deep as she possibly could. Tsume exclaims loudly in pain as Yuna somehow found the strength to release his hold on her. Once she pushes him back, the she-wolf lunges at him and pins him to the ground, grasping a hold of his neck and forcefully pushes his head against the concert floor. Raising a clenched fist in the air, she beared the face of a madman as she exposed her wolf fangs.

"Yuna! Stop!" Toboe shrieks.

The young pup shot himself up and runs to their side, taking hold of her fist before she could throw it. Yuna turns to see Toboe, his expression frightful. "Stop it, Yuna! Don't hurt him!" The young pup screams, obviously trying to hold back tears. Yuna stared into his expression for what felt like hours for her. Yuna glances back down at the wolf in her hold and gasped. The realization that she wasn't trapped in that cell hit her, and hit her hard.

Slowly, Yuna released her hold on his neck and stands, backing away from him till her back hit the wall. Yuna slides down the wall and lets out a tired sigh as she slouches over, hiding her face behind her bangs. Tsume pushes himself, gently stroking the bite marks that was left on his skin of his neck. Strangely, Tsume chuckles with a mix expression of surprise and shock.

"Damn, guess I underestimated you..." he spoke.

Toboe walks to Yuna's side, kneeling down to her height and placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. His hand shuddered upon feeling how much she was trembling.

"Yuna, are you... okay?"

Yuna was slient before she turned to look in the pup's worried eyes. With blood streaming down from her lips to her chin, she brushes aside her bangs allowing her eyes to be in view. After quickly wiping away stray tears and the stream of blood, Yuna forces a smile as she gently strokes his cheek.

"I'm all right. Sorry for scaring you." Yuna says as warmly as possible, but she couldn't hide the tremor in her voice. Catching the whiteness of the flower at her side, Yuna gently take the stem of the plant, observing the petals to make sure the fragile thing was battered. Even when she noticed the blood splats and a stream of red on the end of the petal, it didn't bother her. Stains aside, she rather prefer that than it getting smashed. Trying to clean it off would most likely ruin the plant, even if she was careful.

After deciding to leave it be, she slips the stem back between her ear, enjoying the feeling of cool and smoothness of the stem and the petals against her head.

Yuna nearly exclaimed when she suddenly realized what she done. Before she could apologize, Yuna quickly turned to face Tsume. However, he was already standing inches from her with a questioning look on his face. Sheepishly, Yuna stared up at the stoic man with a almost apologetic and embarrassed face.

Tsume extends an open hand to her, which she followed his motion with her eyes. She didn't hesitate to take his hand, firmly grasping it and allowing Tsume to give her support to stand. Her legs were notably weak, and they would not stop shaking. If she tried to stand with her own strength, she'd plop down on her face, though she was always used to it since her nightmare always curse her like this.

Back on her feet, Yuna sheepish stared on the bite that was left on his neck. Her insides began to twist with guilt.

Gently, Yuna reaches and gently strokes the wound, hoping to at least show her guilt. Tsume no doubt gave her a very questioning look. One moment she was blood raged crazy, and now, she was like a mother wolf tending to its pup. Yet, he could see pain behind her gentle eyes, the hand that was stroking him was shaking like a leaf, and he even notice the shaking in her legs, but not as intense as her hand.

"I'm sorry, Tsume. I didn't mean to hurt you like this..." Yuna says, pulling her hand away and resting it on her chest. "I hope I didn't hurt you. If I did, I'm sorry."

For him, it wasn't painful. Well, it was, but he was more surprised by the strength and force of the attack, since she appears no more than a simple, naive she-wolf. Tsume shook his head, taking the palm of his hand and rubbing the side of his neck.

"Don't worry about it. You didn't hurt me too much. Though I am surprised that a girly pup like you would be quick on your instincts; and here I thought you were nothing more than a house dog." he says in a almost mocking tone.

He waited for her to throw a fit. However, instead she smirked at him with a proudful gleam in her eye.

"I haven't known you for very long, but I'll take that as a compliment; from you." Yuna replied.

Tsume raises an eyebrow. "Hm. You are the one thing I can't understand."

"You're one to talk, you know." she says, pushing back the ends of her hair.

"Hmph. Compared to me, you're like a rock."

"And compared to me, you're worse than a human."

"Really? A human? Coming from a bitch."

Her vein began to pop from her forehead, luckily for her, is covered by her bangs. Toboe sweatdrops as he looks upon both of the wolves, praying that the two wouldn't get into a fist fight. "A bitch...? This coming from the thug..." Her voice retaining that same haughtiness that he first heard from her. Tsume glares at her angrily, restraining himself from taking her words and shoving them down her throat.

He simply scoffs, walking away and sitting onto the window sill. "Think what you like. You're still a bitch."

Yuna restrained herself from smiling victoriously at her supposed win in the argument. But she sighs calmly, turning to him with her hands behind her back.

"I'm sorry..."

Tsume locks eyes with the she-wolf, curious upon hearing those words in a warming tone.

"I'm sorry if I've been giving you the wrong idea. Again, I haven't known you for very long, yet, you've done enough to make me thing differently about you."

Tsume gives a soft "hmph" as he turns his attention back to the outside out the window. "You might just regret those words. What I did, I didn't do it for you or that runt."

"Then what for, then?" Yuna responds, her eyes still looking onto Tsume's sitting form. "You helped both of us more than once in one day. If it wasn't out of the goodness of your heart, then what made you act?"

Tsume remains silent. His expression, though she couldn't see, still stoic and inexpressive. Yuna herself may not be fully wolf, but she understood the natural instincts every creature, even humans, have. She wanted to believe that he did what he did, because he is looking out for his own. That look in his eyes when one of his gang members rejected him and left that night made her believe so. Even if Tsume was a thug, he looked upon the human gang like a wolf would to his pack: To be there when you need them. That being no different than a family. Without that pack, you're lost like a child without their parents.

Despite the wolf's strong aura and his no-nonsense appearance, he was no different than any person or animal alike.

Yuna remained silent for an answer. However, seeing that one wasn't going to be given, she continues. "Well, to be honest, what your reasons were aren't that important. What matters is what you did and the effect it had."

Knowing she was about to do she was going to regret, she gingerly took steps closer towards him. Tsume heard her steps come closer behind, and it wasn't till the sound of her footsteps come to a halt that he turned his head to see her. Now inches close to him, Yuna place a comforting hand on his shoulder and smiles tenderly.

"I want to say... thank you. For what you did. I'm grateful for what you did, even if what you did was small. Still... thank you."

To his surprise, Yuna leans closer toward him, pressing her lips against his cheek for a few seconds before she pulled away.

Yuna immediately felt her stomach flatter as she pulls away from him, keeping her hand rested on his shoulder. She kept her composure, smiling warmly still and holding herself up. Tsume still appeared indifferent, except his eyes widened slightly. Then he smirks, giving another mocking scoff.

"You're a very strange one all right..."

At his words, the vein in her head pulsated as her anger and embarrassment filled to the brim. She rips her hand away, clenching both of them while taking steps back with her cheeks puffed in indignation.

"You...! You're such a-"

Yuna twists around and begins to walk out the door. "I may be a bitch, but you're a prick..." she exclaims behind her clenched teeth.

"Yuna, wait. Where are you-"

"Outside! For fresh air!" she interrupts loudly. Toboe jumps from her angered voice.

To Toboe, he didn't understand her reason for being so angry. What she said is what seemed true. But what she said isn't what angered her, even though she was annoyed by the fact her words didn't even process through the wolf's mind. Though Toboe wouldn't say it in fear of getting on Yuna's bad side, but he thought both Yuna and Tsume were alike... in a way. Both Tsume and Yuna put on a facade of strength and bravery in their own way. They look out for their own, even if they had their own way of displaying it.

They were on the same side of the coin.

But... he rather not risk saying such a thing out loud.

_~x~_

"Gah! What a prick! Throwing everything I said in the trash just like that!"

Yuna climbed the roots of the tree that grew on the outskirts of Tsume's hideout. She realized when she was younger that high heights have always calmed her spirits and made her feel more at home. Thus, she found herself standing on the large roots, staring up at the massive size of the tree. It would be difficult for any human to climb since the bark was smooth and no chips or any kind of object on the tree to climb.

Lucky for her, she was no ordinary human.

Taking a few steps back, the she-wolf lunges forward and runs as fast as she could. As she approaches the trunk of the tree, she squats down and puts all force into her jump. Yuna reaches toward a tree branch, clutching onto it and pull herself up. Gingerly, she stands onto the branch, balancing herself before she carefully sat down on the branch. Once she was situated on the small amount of space she smiles as she rest on palms on the branch, inhaling the sweet scent of the leaves around her.

Despite feeling at peace for the moment, she was troubled.

Tsume was the least of her concern. What did concern her was everything that has happen in such a short amount of time. She finally rid herself of the man that tried to woo her and even managed to scare away his cohorts. However, it's been long enough that someone must have already found the bodies. Since Yuna was known around the area, and he always chasing her like a dog in heat, she would make a prime suspect. Getting caught was one thing, but the thought of being thrown into a jail cell made her stomach churn. She wanted nothing more than to stay away from anything that reminded her of the past.

And then there's Quent, the wolf hunter. With him knowing her identity and him a witness to her crime, no doubt he was among the number of people that would be breathing down her neck.

Clenching the locket in her hands, she remembers the noble ship. The sound of the high pitch humming was still fresh in her mind. Pure nostalgia filled her mind and her veins when she remembered the scent that came from it.

He was still alive.

Her father was still alive.

Thoughts of finally being reunited with him conquered everything in her.

For so long, she wanted to embrace him. To inhale his comforting scent in. To say "I love you." so many times that her throat hurt.

With so many things that have happen and the chance to see him again, Yuna recalled the offer those two wolves made to her in the beginning...

She decided.

It was time to leave this place. It was time to fulfill her grandfather's promise.

With this in mind, Yuna clasps her clenched fist to her chest and nods.

"Finally, Grandpa. I can finally do what you wanted me to. And you gave me this chance... I can never thank you for bringing me this close." With her two fingers, she slips the flower from out of her hair, gazing upon with a longing stare with a sorrowful smile on her face.

"Thank you... Barrett."


End file.
